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Korea Inflation

Korea Inflation

Inflation in Korea

The Republic of Korea maintained moderate inflation rates from 2013 to 2022, averaging around 2%. Inflation was notably below this threshold in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, and surged in 2021 and 2022 on economic recovery, supply constraints and high commodity prices. That said, inflation in 2022 was below the OECD average.

Consumer price inflation in Korea averaged 1.6% in the ten years to 2022, below the Asia-Pacific regional average of 2.1%. The 2022 average figure was 5.1%. For more inflation information, visit our dedicated page.

Korea Inflation Chart

Note: This chart displays Inflation Rate (CPI, annual variation in %) for Korea from 2014 to 2023.
Source: KOSTAT.

Korea Inflation Data

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Inflation (CPI, ann. var. %, aop) 1.5 0.4 0.5 2.5 5.1
Inflation (CPI, ann. var. %, eop) 1.3 0.7 0.6 3.7 5.0
Inflation (Core, ann. var. %, aop) 1.2 0.7 0.4 1.4 3.6
Inflation (PPI, ann. var. %, aop) 1.9 0.0 -0.5 6.4 8.4

Inflation falls to lowest level since January in April

Inflation came in at 2.9% in April, down from March’s 3.1%. April’s reading was below market expectations but still above the central bank's 2.0% inflation target, where it has been since early 2021. April’s dip in inflation was driven largely by lower food price pressures. Accordingly, the trend pointed down slightly, with annual average inflation coming in at 3.1% in April (March: 3.2%). Meanwhile, core inflation fell to 2.3% in April, from March’s 2.4%. Lastly, consumer prices increased 0.04% from the previous month in April, slowing down from March's 0.15% increase. April's result marked the softest rise in prices since December 2023.

Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years

How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Korean inflation projections for the next ten years from a panel of 30 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable inflation forecast available for Korean inflation.

Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Korean inflation projections.

Want to get access to the full dataset of Korean inflation forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.

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